My sisters and I all got a talent for one or more domestic areas. Mine is sewing. The middle sister is the gourmand. The oldest sister is our Martha. She is the one who does all the pretty wrapping and decorating. She hogged all that up because I got none of it!
This year I was so frustrated with my craptastic wrapping jobs I decided to make reuseable bags. I didn't want to do totes. Drawstring bags are too fussy. After some brainstorming with my mother-in-law I arrived at the idea of Santa Sacks. I have been busy using all those weird leftover pieces of fabric along with recent thrift store purchases to make up these easy gift bags. They take about 10 minutes to make and work with whatever size of scrap you have.
Above are the springy ones. The florals and greens were purchased on the cheap ($1 and $3 a yard) and, while I liked them, I just never seemed to be able to work them into anything. The blue star one was made solely from thrift store fabric. I think I paid 50 cents for those fabrics. The ribbon was probably the priciest part!
I also picked up a load of Christmas fabrics from my favorite thrift store for $1 a yard. Above are my favorites from that haul. The 2 middle bags are HUGE and I paid $1/yard for all.
I didn't love these fabrics as much but I have to admit they still make nice gift bags. I don't see myself making a quilt from these but I actually really like warm, homey Christmas things like this.
These were all made with weird sized leftovers from all the pajama pants I have been making. I took whatever I had and used every bit and now I have a nice variety of bags in all shapes and sizes.
These are great for oddly shaped gifts. In this one I have 2 stuffed animals.
One side has a little loop for keeping the ribbon in place.
and the ribbon tie is hidden in the seam on the opposite side. You can also give it a flat bottom if you like. I did on some, on others I didn't
If anyone feels a tutorial is in order let me know. These are about 10 minutes each.
And I forgot to show y'all this piece of vintage fabric I picked up in November. It was several yards for $1 total. I love it. I'm holding on it for just the right project. It will either be a shirt or something for my house. It is a Schwartz-Liebman textile and I think it is a blend made to look like linen.
What an awesome idea! I love to wrap presents but about halfway through my enthusiasm level is almost zero. I might have to do this. I could probably find a thousand uses for them.
ReplyDeleteI do so wish I could find all those deals like you :)
I would love a tutorial!! I have been wanting reusable bags for Christmas but don't like the drawstring look and these seem perfect.
ReplyDeleteI always save bags at Christmas and have like thre boxes of them in my christmas stash.... but then I never use them because my kids are nosey and would look inside before christmas! LOL But I keep saving them!
ReplyDeleteLove the bags.....would love a tutorial.....
ReplyDeleteawesome! I do not know how you find the time to do/think of all these things! Tell me about the fabric... it looks like a quilt... is that the print? of course I need a tutorial, I cannot figure out anything by myself...
ReplyDeleteHeh, great idea with the sacks, and reusable too!
ReplyDeleteLove the bags and would love a tutorial too! I got one from a friend at Christmas this year and thought it would be a great thing to do. I just didn't get motivated enough to do it.
ReplyDeleteDrawstrings are intimidating, since I never learned proper 'sewing' I'm just a self taught quilter. The bags would be great. This would be great to teach my tiny guild, too, if you don't mind. The ladies would love it.
ReplyDelete